The Proposal
by blue4pup
Summary: Stephanie is tired of waiting for Tim, she needs to know now.


"…so, Boy Wonder?"

There was an uncharacteristically Tim expression on his face. Something between panicked and dumbfounded. His Red Robin cowl couldn't hide it from Stephanie's scrutinizing gaze. Of course, it looked ridiculous on his usually confident and serious face. She might have laughed, if her question wasn't so important.

Looking away from the moonlit Wayne Tech rooftop, Tim's mouth opened and closed a few times. No sound came out. In fact, the entire city was quiet for once. There was none of the usual blaring noises or sudden emergencies. No bat signal in the sky to draw him away from this conversation as so many times before.

With a nervous swallow, Tim finally met her gaze again. "Batgirl… is… is this really… really the time to ask this?"

Stephanie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Ah yeah!" She blew out a frustrated breath, pointing one of her Eskrimas at him. "I wouldn't be asking, Boy Wonder, if it wasn't."

"Of course," he said, before murmuring something about timing or other under his breath. He moved to turn as he reached for his belt. She guessed he was going for a batline to slip away as he always did when their conversations got serious, the subject shifting to about their future together. "But… it can wait, until…."

"Oh, no you don't!" angrily declared Stephanie, stomping her foot.

There was a pained grunt from the cement roof below her. Stephanie had the good sense to cringe as she looked down. She'd almost forgotten about the thugs that she and Tim apprehended during their attempted break-in of Wayne Tech Enterprises, particularly the one she had pinned under her foot. "Sorry."

Through squinted and pained look, the scruffy faced man gave her a small smile. "No, it's okay. My old woman did the same thing to me when I… I didn't immediately ask her to marry me." He looked in Red Robin's direction. "You should listen to your lady."

Tim glared back at him. "I don't need love advice from the likes of you."

Stephanie ignored Tim. Instead, she smiled warmly at the scruffy face man. He wasn't hard on the eyes, a little bit slim with dirty blond hair, but nice enough to look at. "Do you know we've been going out for six years?" She raised an eyebrow in Tim's direction.

"No way," the blond said with an honestly surprised tone. He flashed a skeptical look at Tim in his Red Robin outfit. "With condom head over there?"

Stephanie barely managed to smoother her snort of amusement. "Yup," she replied, "and that doesn't include the time we were just partners... as a dynamic duo."

There was a heavy sigh from Tim. Stephanie just ignored it.

"And when he dumped me," she continued, continuing off the year, months, and days on her fingers that passed without word from him. "Or when he practically begged me to get back together."

"I did not beg you!" declared Tim, pointing an accusing finger. The bit of his face that was visible under the cowl began to look as red as his uniform. "I simply… we just..." He stopped short of explaining with a growl. "Why are you even telling him this?"

"'Cause at least someone isn't afraid to discuss marriage with me," Stephanie stated. "Someone who doesn't just find another crisis or crime of the century to distract himself with instead of talking about it; much less asking the girl he's being dating for six years the big question!"

Tim rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he turned. He unnecessarily checked the bindings of the other four thugs. Stephanie knew he was seeking to avoid the issue and her question. Whenever one of them started to talk about the future or he looked like he might proposal to her, something came up.

Sure, she understood it wasn't always a top priority. Sometimes saving the day or the world had to be put first, particularly when you're the leader of the Teen Titans. However, not all his excuses were excusable. For example, last time, he got carried away by Superboy, quite literally. Only later did she find out from Kara that it was for love advice, not to save the day.

"That's why I thought I'd help," she told him, pausing briefly with a deep breath. "That's why I asked you… Will you marry me?"

Just like the first time she asked that question, Tim's shoulders went stiff and a shaky breath fell from his lips. He said nothing in response.

"Dude, someone that can kickass like her is a rarity in a place like this," a stout thug beside Tim said, "I'd marry her."

"Yeah, me too, Kev," said a much younger looking thug with a mischievous smirk on his lips. He winked at Stephanie. "I'd change sides for a girl like her."

Her nose wrinkled at the thought. She was about to say as much when she heard Tim growl. "Shut up before I break your other arm!"

There was a clear flash of jealousy in Tim's eyes. It brought warmth to Stephanie's heart. Part of her wanted to say as much. Tell him that he had nothing worry about, even if Tim was adorable when he was angry.

However, another part of her saw this as the opening to an opportunity. She could push her point and see how he reacted. She might finally know whether it was just nerves or a lack of interest about them that kept him from proposing to her.

"Why not?" asked Stephanie, winking back at the man, despite the bile that rose in her throat at his sleazy expression. She gave the guy a genuinely warm smile, leaning down to meet his dark eyes. "I like an honest man. And it's not like I have any other future plans. Not with my current boyfriend."

Tim snapped to his feet. A shocked expression consumed his paling face. "What?" he asked. His voice jumped an octave. "What are you saying?"

"Well?" she asked right back. "What's left for us? A girl can only get so much of a thrill from bricking her boyfriend in the face and nightly vigilantism for so long. And I'd like to know…"

"I love you," he said with such pure honestly that it made Stephanie's heart ache, but she had to know for certain. She had to know whether those were just words to him or something much more. "And I would… if I could… I…"

Crossing her arms, she cocked to her head to one side. Her eyes widened, watching his struggle speak but willing him on. When no response came after a moment, Stephanie put on her best 'I'm not impressed" look, letting her gaze drift back to the younger thug for a moment.

"Batgirl! Please!" The whine in his voice was beyond evident.

Slowly, she raised her gaze to meet his own. "Will. You. Marry…?"

Before she could finish, he was well within touching distance, and with no hesitance, said, "Yes!"

The air was knocked from her lungs with his reply. While always hoping for that answer, she hadn't expected how it would make her feel. Her legs suddenly felt like jelly. Her stomach did cartwheels. Her brain felt light, unable to completely comprehend his response.

Watching him sigh, she felt spellbound. "Of course," he said. He reached, taking one of her hands. "I always was. I just…" He paused, reaching for a pouch on his belt. From one of the pouches, he produced a small, black box. "I was just… looking for the right moment. The best time. The… well…"

Stephanie couldn't help the chocked laugh as she watched him open the box. The gold band with a single diamond glistened brightly under the moonlight. She thought it was brighter than any star. The most beautiful ring she had ever seen. She wanted to cry.

Instead, she was immediately pulled back to reality with oohing and awwing of the tied up thugs. She felt herself blush as she reached across closing the box. "Hold that thought."

Tim gave her a confused expression. "Steph?" There was a worried tone to his voice.

She pushed herself up, pressing a fierce kiss to his lips. It was as much to reassure herself that this was real as for Tim. Pulling back only slightly, she whispered, "I do too, My Future-Hubby Wonder"

Lightly chuckling, she watched as a smile curved his lips. "Let's just get rid of these thugs and…" he started to say.

"Oh, don't let us get in your way," said the blond thug lying at her feet.

"In fact, you can just let us go, so you can go off on whatever sort honeymoon you Superhero couples go on," the thug named Kev.

"Yeah," barked the younger thug. "An early wedding gift."

Tim raised a questioning eyebrow at Stephanie. She returned it as laughter bubbled up from the pit of her stomach. In perfect unison, they both shook their heads.

"Nope," Stephanie said for both of them. "We have a date to finish, before going to see Big Daddy War Bats with the news." Then, she pushed herself up, kissing Tim senseless again. A moment later, she whispered just him, "And then my mom."

She watched with amusement as Tim's eyes widened with a new look of panic.


End file.
